Aditya Srivastav (Abhijeet) information (Page 2)

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Off Off Bollywood ' A breed of young actors chooses variety in portfolio over superstardom and money

Track-II HeroesVinay Pathak: Bheja Fry, Khosla ka Ghosla

Deepak Dobriyal: Omkara

Rajat Kapur: Mixed Doubles, Bheja Fry

Kay Kay: Hazaron Khwaishen Aisi, Life in a Metro

Aditya Srivastava: Black Friday, Satya

Abhay Deol: Honeymoon Travels, Socha Na Tha

Prroshant Narayanan: Chhal, Waisa bhi Hota Hai Part ll

Ranvir Shorey: Bheja Fry, Khosla ka Ghosla***

A plump, short and quirky income-tax officer with a penchant for Hindi film songs and a way of turning the world around him upside down, Bharat Bhushan is hardly the kind of character who'd cast a Harry Potter spell on the box-office. But India's favourite idiot of the moment has been drawing house-full shows, and the actor behind the role, Vinay Pathak, is still trying to come to terms with delivering the biggest sleeper hit of this year, the oddly-titled Bheja Fry, directed by Sagar Bellary. "The reaction is overwhelming," he says. "We could never have imagined it while making the film." In much the same way, the intense, powerful Irfan Khan didn't just essay an amazingly nuanced act as the gentle, introvert Bengali professor trying to put down roots in alien America, but The Namesake has also emerged as the highest grossing Indian-English film in the country, earning Irfan the title of 'Alternate Khan'.

Irfan and Vinay might be poles apart but they share a few things. They do not have the brawn of a Salman or the chocolatey good looks of Hrithik. You won't see them romancing the heroine, bursting into song 'n dance, or single-handedly fighting an army of villains. More actors than textbook heroes, they are cast in the mould of artistes like Balraj Sahni, Naseeruddin Shah, Manoj Bajpai, Pankaj Kapur and Om Puri, recognised more for their acting skills than for their glamour. And they aren't the only ones on the Bollywood horizon'actors like Ranvir Shorey, Deepak Dobriyal, Prroshant Narayanan, Aditya Srivastava, Abhay Deol, Rajat Kapur, Shiny Ahuja, Vijay Raaz, Atul Kulkarni, Shreyas Talpade are all bringing fresh vitality, vigour and also money and success to the alternate, small film movement in the country. Irfan and Kay Kay could well be called the big daddies of the lot, the former having already moved on to a bigger, international platform, with Namesake followed by Michael Winterbottom's film on Daniel Pearl, A Mighty Heart.

One reason why this creative crop is flourishing is because the space for small films is getting better defined in Bollywood. Not only are multiplexes offering a definite avenue of release, the films themselves'once experimental, often pretentious exercises'are establishing a better connect with the audience without necessarily compromising on their independent spirit.

"Opportunities for us are increasing," says Aditya Srivastava, seen recently as Badshah Khan, Tiger Memon's henchman on the run in Anurag Kashyap's Black Friday. "It's the best time we have had in 20 years. The days of B-grade Bollywood are over. Now it's either superstars like the Khans or the alternate stars," says actor-filmmaker Rajat Kapur.

His subsequent efforts, be it Shivam Nair's Ahista Ahista or Reema Kagti's Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd, have been as offbeat. "I try to do films with great scripts but which are also entertaining, something audiences can relate to," he says.

Abhay is already being dubbed the new-age Amol Palekar. Much like him, the others too don't aspire to be larger than life, only real and compelling. "I'd be fooling myself to expect to be an SRK. My strength is to get under the skin of the character, make it real," says Vinay. "The traditional notion of heroism does not work any more. It's cool to be yourself, even if you're plump, with pimples on your face. We've all been losers at some point in time, when someone else has walked away with our ambitions, the bike, the chick or the money. Our characters embody that ordinariness."

Ranvir Shorey: Clinching roles: Khosla Ka Ghosla, Pyaar Ke Side Effects, Traffic Signal, Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd, Bheja Fry, Mixed Doubles. Coming soon: Mithya, I Am 24Most of these actors come with a background in theatre and television and have an instinctive understanding of the film medium too, though for some acting happened by accident rather than choice. Abhay literally grew up on film sets; he'd have joined acting sooner rather than later. "I denied the pull for a long while. But then I couldn't see myself doing anything else," says he. Ranvir Shorey worked behind the camera as a producer and director at Channel V till the bosses decided to push him in front of the camera. "It took a while to get comfortable and even longer to explore more avenues as an actor," he says.

Vinay, hailing originally from Bhojpur in Bihar, studied in Ranchi and Allahabad before leaving for New York for an MBA. But theatre's pull proved stronger, and he chucked the management degree for a course in theatre. He and Ranvir have won recognition as TV's funniest comic duo, as Channel V veejays and on The Great Indian Comedy Show. Another management graduate, Kay Kay, left a coveted manager's job to join Mumbai's theatre circuit, and did a celebrated role as Gandhi's son Harilal in Feroz Khan's Mahatma Versus Gandhi. He also did TV (Pradhan Mantri) and films like Saeed Mirza's Naseem and Mahesh Mathai's Bhopal Express. Recognition came with Sudhir Mishra's Hazaron Khwaishen Aisi, and Ram Gopal Varma's Sarkar. This year, both his films, Honeymoon Travels and Life in a Metro, have pulled in the crowds.

Life took a different turn for Rajat Kapur as well who studied direction at FTII, assisted Kumar Shahani and Mani Kaul, and eventually got famous for his role as Preity's young uncle in Farhan Akhtar's Dil Chahta Hai, and a paedophile uncle in Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding. He is now combining acting with direction, having made movies like Mixed Doubles and Raghu Romeo. "Acting happened because I was struggling for money as a filmmaker."

Money wasn't the issue for Prroshant; he had done innumerable TV serials before getting noticed for his mercurial, unpredictable energy in Hansal Mehta's Chhal and Shashanka Ghosh's Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II. "The idea is not to go looking for work even if the money is great. I know the work will come to me. My choice of role is determined by the script'whether I get Rs 2 for it or Rs 5," he says.

Aditya Srivastava did a six-year stint at Delhi's Sri Ram Centre for Performing Arts before coming to Mumbai in 1995.

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Here's an article. I'll not say anything. Read it fully and find out what's the most sweet, touching part.

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Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar! ' A bittersweet life by Hansal Mehta

I hate the past. But I still cannot help looking back. Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar is perhaps the most bittersweet experience of my life. A film whose highs and lows began way before it even started.

Sometime in August 1997 music baron Gulshan Kumar was brutally killed by unidentified assailants. There were many unsuccessful attempts on film personalities before this and it was a fearful time. Dreaded gangsters and 'eminent' film personalities were named in many conspiracy theories that followed this shocking murder. But who were the guys that finally pulled the trigger? What were their compulsions? What was their motive? These questions kept plaguing me as I tried to visualize the murder.

I think of myself as a voyeur pretending to be a film-maker. I love making films about internal conflict arising out of shocking tales that one reads in newspapers. I love all the agony aunt columns because they discuss issues related to human inadequacy and give you a peek into private worlds. So coming back to 'Dil Pe'', I was intrigued by the idea of making a film about the man who actually pulled the trigger on Gulshan Kumar. I wanted to be there on the scene of the crime to see his face. I wanted to see the killer and his victim before that defining moment. The idea for 'Dil Pe'' began to take shape.

My killer would be an ordinary migrant in the city of Mumbai. I wanted him to be a casual textile mill worker (casual ' daily wages worker). I wanted my character, that of the voyeur, to be this workers best friend. I wanted him to be a marriage videographer (this was a term used for people who covered marriages, I don't know if the term still exists). Not many people are aware that before I began my journey in television and films I used to shoot marriages. And before shooting marriages I worked in a textile mill! My story was about Mumbai ' a city where for every fulfilled dream there are a few thousand shattered dreams. My story was about one such shattered dream and about the extent of internal destruction it could cause to people who seemed most innocent. My story was about desperation leading to people finding opportunity in the midst of maximum adversity. The idea was taking shape in my mind. But I was still making my first film 'Jayate'' then. The idea was too radical and I had no hopes of finding a producer to back this thought. But the idea kept troubling me. Everyday a new thought kept cropping up. A story was taking shape.

I shared my idea with two of my closest friends and associates then ' Manoj Bajpai and Anurag Kashyap. If I remember correctly 'Satya'' was being shot then. We had very little idea about what life had in store for us. A fledgling director, a passionate writer and a struggling actor. We got drunk that night. I gave Manoj and Anurag a handsome signing amount of One Rupee. We decided that we would make this film. And we continued drinking'

I made 'Jayate''. It never got released. 'Satya' was successful. Manoj Bajpai aka Bhiku Mhatre became a star overnight. Anurag Kashyap became a celebrated writer. He was also ready with a script that he wanted to direct. I think it was called 'Mirage'. It was later rechristened 'Paanch'. I had an unreleased film and was back to doing television. I guess all of us drifted apart then, charting our own respective destinies. 'Dil pe'' was put on the back-burner. No money, no career, nobody to back the story and the director'

I was shooting for a short story called 'Ae Mote' for a slot called 'Rishtey' on Zee TV. As the title suggests it was about a fat man. It was a fat man's love story. Saurabh Shukla was playing the main protagonist. Television budgets were extremely restrictive and schedules were very demanding. I had to complete the 45 minute story in 3 days. The last day of the shoot was crazy. I had around 25 minutes of the story left to complete. It was going to be a long, extended shift. We began at 7 am and the shoot lasted around 30 hours. At 10.30 pm we were exhausted. Saurabh was trying to kick the smoking habit. He had been successful until then. An exhausted Saurabh asked me for a cigarette and sat down with me. He was going through a depression because of some confusion over a story that he had written for Ramgopal Verma. I think the film was 'Kaun'. What seems trivial today was a big issue then. I am digressing again. Back to 'Dil pe..'.

I think a director's job is mostly about managing creative talent. Film-making is more about handling varied temperaments, assuaging anger, managing frustration and motivating people in the face of extreme adversity. Film-making is about making talented, disparate individuals focus on a singular vision. To keep Saurabh awake I decided to take his attention away from the impending schedule and exhaustion. I sat him down and narrated my story to him. Suddenly, he was awake. I had pressed the right buttons. He offered to write the film ' FREE. The only condition was that he would play the marriage videographer. 'Dil pe'' was back in my life. We finished the shoot and kept meeting over the script.

Saurabh's take on the story was fascinating. He saw it as an 'end of innocence' story. He saw it as a film about the city taking its toll on an innocent migrant. Gradually, the characters of Ram Saran Pandey ' the garage mechanic, my protagonist and Gaitonde, his videographer friend were born. A brilliant character that Saurabh created was Tito, a loud, good-for-nothing 'Dubai-return' wannabe. As the screenplay and many other memorable characters took shape we realized that we still did not have a producer for the film. The screenplay was funny, very dark and dealt with characters that were always bundled in contradictions.

We were still dreaming, but in vain' Saurabh spoke to a friend who agreed to back the film. The budget of the film was Rs. 20 lakhs (US$50,000). We were going to shoot the film on 16mm. The producer's only condition was that Manoj Bajpai should play Ram Saran.

After much hesitation and awkwardness, my worst fears came true. Manoj refused the film. He wanted to be part of a much bigger film. He wanted to support me but in a bigger endeavor. In despair I approached the very gifted and under-rated Aditya Srivastava for Manoj's role. Aditya agreed. The producer backed out. By then I was hell-bent on making this film. I was tired of television. I was desperate to hear the whirring sound of a film camera. I was desperate to make a film. I was desperate to make 'Dil pe'' . And the only way to make it was to produce it myself'

An entire book can be dedicated to all the people who came together to realize 'Dil pe mat le yaar!'. My co-producers Anish Ranjan and Ajay Tuli. They believed in my dream. They never let me worry about the constant lack of funds. We lived the agony and ecstasy of this film together. We had many fights, many arguments but ultimately we were driven by the desire to make a great film. We disagreed on a regular basis and had completely dysfunctional personal lives while making this film. My assistant director Kanika. Her father had sent her money from Muscat to book an apartment in Mumbai. That money helped us shoot the first schedule of the film.

Tabu and I met over another script that I wanted to make with her. That script never got made into a film. But I found a friend in Tabu. We became internet pals. She accepted the role without even asking for the script or her role. I narrated the script to her in half an hour. The great thing about this wonderful actor is that she approached her character without being judgmental about it. It was easy to call her character a bitch. She just played Kaamya. She is a special actor and a very special person. Hers was perhaps the most under-rated performance in the film.

Aditya Srivastava showed no disappointment when I told him that Manoj would be doing the role offered to him. He accepted the role of Tito for a pittance. He even contributed money towards making the film. I think Tito is one of Indian cinema's most memorable characters. It was a great performance by a very magnanimous actor.

Saurabh Shukla was admitted to hospital while we were writing the script. He went through the entire pain of making this film with me. He was a stranger to me before the film. I found a brother while making the film. Thank you Saurabh. Without you 'Dil pe'' would have been another unrealized dream gathering dust in my store-room.

This film cost me my friendship with Manoj Bajpai. But I guess passion has its price. We react to situations at the heat of the moment and lose sight of ourselves in the process. Our personal situation, however, cannot detract from Manoj's contribution to the film. His performance was faulted by many but I rate it very highly. It was earnest, energetic and straight from the heart. It was a difficult character that only an actor of Manoj's caliber could pull off.

I could go on and on and on' Vishal Bhardwaj for his eclectic and very original music, Abbas Tyrewala for being more than just a lyrics writer, Anurag Kashyap for encouraging us through the film despite not being a part of it, Divya Jagdale for surprising us with her spirited performance as Gayatri, Remo the choreographer who made his debut with the film, Asha Bhonsle who sang the title track with such energy, all the very talented actors who played bit parts in the film just to be part of it. There are many people to thank and many people to condemn. But that is not the point.

The protagonist of the film begins with a journey that is soaked in fantasy. Ram Saran's world is invaded by the beautiful Kaamya (Tabu). He believes that this ambitious and beautiful page 3 journalist actually loves him. Such is his innocence. Little does he realize that he is just an interesting story for her. His world of fantasy soon leads to despair. Then to desperation. Gaitonde, the videographer is a loyal friend with an unhappy marriage and a terrible bank balance. The only assets he has are a run-down, red scooter and an even more run-down video camera. As Ram Saran's world spirals into a desperate realm Gaitonde changes. Loyalty is replaced by opportunism. Opportunity leads to betrayal. Little does he know that he is in turn being betrayed by his guest Tito and his wife Gayatri. There were multiple layers of betrayal and desperation in the world we had created.

I wanted the film to look 'dirty'. I wanted the images to look carelessly framed and the camera movement to be minimal. As the lives of my characters reached various levels of despair I wanted the film to lose color. My cinematographer Sanjay Kapoor understood this need. We used a process called Bleach Bypass that involves retention of silver on the film negative after processing. I could get into a major technical exposition on this process. I would rather dwell on the end result. We used various levels of silver retention with grudging help from the laboratory (Adlabs, Mumbai) to gradually de-saturate the colors through the film. As the film progresses we have almost monochromatic hues, highly burnt out skies and very dark shadows. Today, it is possible to achieve all this using digital technology though I still feel that digital technology cannot replace the amorphous nature of film. Unfortunately, the DVD transfer of the film does not reproduce our technical innovation faithfully. I wish more people had seen the film at the movie halls.

I realize that I have written much more on this post than I intended to write. But there is a lot more to share. Maybe on the next post. If all of you have the patience to read on'

visromCoolbie

AN ARTICLE ON ABHI!!!!!!!!!Even as he snoops around as a CID officer on Sony TV, Aditya Srivastav convincingly enacts a negative role in Ram Gopal Varma's latest release Ek Hasina Thi.

Starting with amateur theatre in Allahabad, Aditya moved to Delhi in 1989 to work with the Sri Ram Centre for Performing Arts. Mumbai was the next destination for this talented actor in 1995 where he made his film debut with Shekhar Kapur's Bandit Queen.

"Initially I did voice-overs for ads and promos. I had to choose television over theatre. I had to survive. That's why I did serials such as Yeh Shaadi Nahi Ho Sakti, 9 Malabar Hill, Naya Daur, Saturday Suspense and Rishtey among others," says Aditya.

Aditya soon graduated to doing films such as Satya and Dil Se. "I took a break from television in 1997 to do films. My film Matrubhoomi with Manish Jha was well received in the festival circuit," says Aditya, adding, "But it was only after my role as a police inspector in Satya that I started getting film offers." But Aditya refused the several offers to play cop as he did not want to get stereotyped and decided to wait.Jan 7 (4 days ago)Arsha road 2......Meanwhile, he shifted his focus to television once more. After a couple of episodes in BP Singh's Aahat, he was offered the role of a CID officer Abhijeet in the serial CID. "I joined the CID team in 1999 as second-in-command to Shivaji Satam. Since then I have done more than 200 episodes," says Aditya.

While TV keeps him busy for half a month, Aditya wants to concentrate on films as well. Farhan Akhtar's Lakshya, Milan Luthria's Deewar and Anurag Kashyap's Black Friday are a few of his releases lined up for this year. "Films give me the joy of depicting different characters," says Aditya, who plays Saif Ali Khan's friend, a lawyer with negative shades in Ek Hasina Thi.

After living in Andheri for a couple of years, Aditya settled for the peace and greenery of Sai Baba Nagar when it came to buying his own house.

"I shifted from Andheri in 1997 and stayed on rent in this area before buying this house," says Aditya who is happy spending spare time at home with his wife and daughter and putting to good use the cooking skills he picked up during his bachelor days.

deepikabanerjeeIF-Sizzlerz

i watched "Gulaal" till part 6. I must say one thing, till now i had
been underestimating this movie though am quite fond of anurag kashyap's
movies just like his contemporaries' Vishal Bhardwaj and Dibakar
Banerjee...these TRIO have really revived the parallel cinemas which had
begun to suffer.

This movie "Gulaal" revolves around
the feud between the pro-monarchists and the pro-democrats. I wont go
into too much detail, will just comment on 3 scenes which i have liked
till now in the movie. Aditya Srivastav plays the role of Karan, the
illegitimate son of a Rajput king and lives with his sister who is a law
student.He is fiercely independent and harbours a deeply felt anger for
his father though he maintains a calm outward appearance. Kay Kay Menon
plays the role of "Dukey bana", a staunch supporter of monarchy and
aristocracy.It is he who backs Ransa, the legitimate son and heir
apparent of the king to stand for the post of General Secretary in the
local college's elections. Karan's sister stands against him for the
same post.

The first scene which i liked was
where the otherwise grave and somewhat cold looking Karan gives us a
glimpse of his softer side by showing brotherly regard for his sister.
While his sister is talking to their father on the telephone who is
telling her to withdraw her name from the candidature of the college
elections so that Ransa may win, he arrives and takes the receiver from
her and asks his father mockingly, "KYA DOGE BADLE MEIN, APNA NAAM
DOGE?", we dont get to hear his father's answer but by the wry quirking
of his lips we come to know that his father yet again has avoided this
question. Then, after the telephonic convo is over, Karan turns around
to his sister and softening his tone says to his sister, "TERE GUITAR KA
TAAR TOOT GAYA THA NA, YE LE LAGAA LENA," and hands her a packet of
guitar strings. Simply loved this display of deep concern for his
sister.

The
scene above comes when Karan kidnaps Ransa to retaliate against Dukey
Bana's attempt at ensuring Ransa's victory by making his men steal
karan's sister's exam papers. As per the exam rules only a securing at
least 60% marks was eligible to stand in the elections. In this scene,
Karan tells his half brother to sign paper which says he is withdrawing
his name from the election.

Ransa
then begins to pass lewd comments and jeers at karan for his
illegitimacy. Karan doesnt show his anger by protesting vocally but one
can see the pent up anger in his eyes....hats off to aditya srivastav
for having such expressive eyes

Karan
walks away calmly while Ransa continues to laugh horrendously. Karan
goes a floor above and from the gaps between the grate-like covering
shoots the whole round of bullets into Ransa's torso..Just look at
the determination on his face.....simply loved this

debasree04IF-Sizzlerz

After much hesitation and awkwardness, my worst fears came true. Manoj refused the film. He wanted to be part of a much bigger film. He wanted to support me but in a bigger endeavor. In despair I approached the very gifted and under-rated Aditya Srivastava for Manoj's role. Aditya agreed. The producer backed out.I think that's the real tragedy of our country...in many cases talent just lost...though there is numerous actors & actress got chance & doing movies without acting...Aditya sir deserves more than that...it is very disappointing that this kind of actor recognised as under-rated ...

Aditya Srivastava showed no disappointment when I told him that Manoj would be doing the role offered to him. He accepted the role of Tito for a pittance. He even contributed money towards making the film. I think Tito is one of Indian cinema's most memorable characters. It was a great performance by a very magnanimous actor.Hats off to u sir...we are really proud of you...& it proves again that u r not only a great actor u r great human being too...

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